The Ben Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has announced that a trio of seniors – Blake Hathcoat of Saint Mary’s, Washington’s Henry Lee and Sahith Theegala of Pepperdine – have been selected as the three finalists for the Ben Hogan Award January Golfer of the Month honor.
Hathcoat collected three top-10 finishes, including a victory at the Silicon Valley Amateur with a 36-hole score of 135 (-9). In addition, the native of Fresno, Calif., tied for fifth at the Saguaro Amateur with a three-round 209 (-7) and opened the spring collegiate season with a share of ninth at the Arizona Intercollegiate (211, -2).
Lee, a product of Coquitlam, British Columbia, claimed victory in a sudden-death playoff at the Arizona Intercollegiate with a 10-under score of 203 over three rounds. The 84-player field consisted of 10 individuals ranked among the nation’s top 100 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
Theegala posted a four-shot triumph at the Australian Master of the Amateurs with a four-round 278 (-10), as just eight of the 78 players finished under par. The Chino Hills, Calif., native also was victorious in his college event, the Southwestern Invitational, winning by one shot (204, -12) and finishing seven strokes ahead of third place.
The January Golfer of the Month will be announced on Friday. Fifteen total ballots are eligible to be cast, with 12 coming from members of the Hogan Trophy Foundation and Friends of Golf and three social media fan ballots. Those votes are issued to the top vote getter on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, with the contests open through Thursday night at 11 p.m. (CT).
In line with the yearly Ben Hogan Award, voters consider all college, amateur and professional event results. Winning a monthly award is not a prerequisite to be named a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist, finalist or winner. Past monthly winners include: Georgia Tech’s Andy Ogletree (August), Baylor’s Cooper Dossey (September), Rutgers’ Chris Gotterup and BYU’s Peter Kuest (October), Wake Forest’s Parker Gillam (November) and Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton (December).
The Ben Hogan Award is given each May to the top men’s college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the past 12 months. The Ben Hogan Trophy was first issued by the Friends of Golf at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in 1990. In 2002, the Ben Hogan Award moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, and revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur and collegiate golfer.
–www.TheBenHoganAward.org–
